Recommended sampling rate

Your router samples the traffic that passes through it to create NetFlow or sFlow data. Lower sampling rates increase network flow data accuracy but require more router memory and CPU to generate the data. Higher sampling rates maintain accuracy when your network receives a larger amount of traffic.

The table below provides general recommendations for sampling rates depending on your traffic volume. Test different sampling rates to find the best option for your network.

Traffic Volume	Router sampling recommendation
Low	Between 1 in 100 packets - 1 in 500 packets
Medium	Between 1 in 1,000 - 1 in 2,000 packets
High	Between 1 in 2,000 - 1 in 4,000 packets

As a general rule, you may notice a loss in data accuracy (depending on your network volume) when your network flow sampling rate exceeds 1 in 5,000 packets.